Snap fastener installation



April 16, 1940. F. N. Ross SNAP FASTENER INSTALLATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed July 6, 1956 O ,4 6 75 am was INVENTOR. Frederick NEUSS BY W ATTORNEYS.

April 16, 1940. F, N Ross 2,197,419

SNAP FASTENER INSTALLATIDN Y D'rginal Filed July 6, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 -F'lwf4u @D IN1/EN ToR. Piede/ick AUM ssr BY zg/fx, y@

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 16, 1940 arcane SNAP ras'rENEn INSTALLATION Frederick N. nnss, Detroit.' Mich., assigner to Cinch Manufacturing Corporation, Chicago,

Ill., Va. corporation of Illinois original application July o, 1936, seria1No.ss,91. Divided and this application August 25, 1937.

Serial No. 160,865

2 claim. (cria-13s) My invention aims to provide improvements in snap fastener members, installations of the same and methods by which the fasteners are attached to a supporting structure. My improved fastener 5 member is particularly, though not exclusively. useful for securing an upholstery panel to a framework.

'Ihis application is a divisional of my copending application Serial No. 88,981, led July 6,

In the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an upholstery panel illustrating the fastener asl-'f sembly of the invention and showing two ways of attaching the fasteners to the backing through a margin of the finishing material overlapping the backing;

Fig. 2 is a section of a portion of anfautomobile door with the upholstery panel secured thereto by means of my improved fastener member;

Fig. 3 is a section of a portion of an upholstery v Fig. 5 is a sectional v'iew of an upholstery panel and fastener member showing a portion of the tool means by which the fastener member is nally secured to the panel;

Fig, 6 is a top plan view of my improved fastener member per se;

Fig. 'I is a front elevational view of the fas-v tener member shown'in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the fastener member shown in 6; 40 Fig. 9 is a side view, partly' in section, of the fastener member shown in Fig. 6; and' Fig. l0 is a front view, partly in section, of the fastener member shown in Fig. 6.

Referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings, I have shown an upholstery installation which comprises a part to be upholstered and an upholstered part for covering one side thereof and a fastener member which engages with the part to be upholstered to hold the upholstered part vin assembled relation therewit l `The part to be upholstered is, as illustrated in Fig. 2, an automobile door I having a metal frame 2 which has a stud-receiving aperture 3 formed therein. The upholstery panel, as illustrated in Figs. 1-3, comprises a relatively still' backing l to the inside of the door when secured to the 5 I frame`2. Between the backing and the cover I have provided a layerof wedding 'I (Figs. 2 and 3) which is useful to the panel installation for a.

`reason which willbe described.

The finishing material B, in my preferred form 10 ,of upholstery panel, is lapped along the margin of the inside surface of the panelby being glued or otherwise fastenedin place,v as illustrated in FigureV 1. Insomegforms of upholstery panel the nishlng material overlies the preformed aper- 15 tures 5 of the backing 4. In order that access may be gained to an aperture 5-of the backing for securing my fastener member tc the same, I have shown in Figure Lthe finishing material 'cut out as at 8 around an `aperture 5 in a well known 20 manner. However. it has been found that cutting out the nishing material in the manner shownat 8 takes a relatively great amount of time and labor and for that reason I have provided a tool means for removing the finishing ma- 25 terial overlapping the apertures of the backing in i an emcient and relatively quick manner. The tool means, asillustrated in Fig 4, is a form of dinking diehaving an outer casing comprising a sleeve 9 and a base Ill. The base lilhas a solid 30 portion Il integral with the sleeve 9 and a hollow tubular portion I2 having a peripheral cutting edge I3 at its free end. Assembled with the outer casing of the die is a combination stripper and pilot means having a shank I4 extending through 35 the solid portion III of the base i0 and slidably mounted within the sleeve 9 and a beveled pilot means Il provided at one end of the shank Il. `The pilot means I5 is normally disposed below the peripheral cutting edge I3 and held in that 40 position against the action of a coil spring I6 disposed between the pilot means I5 and the'solid portion II.

In. cutting out the finishing material the upholstery panel is movedunder the die until the 4'5 covered aperture 5 substantially underlies the beveled surface of `the pilot means I5, at which time downward pressure is exerted upon the outer casing of the die contracting the coil spring I6 so as to enable the peripheral cutting edge I3 to 50 cut out the portion of the finishing material-overlying the aperture S and material of the backlng' l adjacent thereto substantiallyns shown in Fig. 4. The size of the pilot means I5 relative to the tubular portion I2 of the die enables the 55 pilot means to act also as a stripper preventing passage of the cut-out portion of.the finishing material into the die. Through use of a locating fixture (not shown) in combination with a suitable press (not shown) carrying my die means it is possible to remove portions of the finishing material overlying apertures in a section of the backing not only in an eiilcient way, but by a quicker method than has formerly been used for this purpose.

While many forms of stud members have been used in securing upholstery panels to sritable framework, I prefer to use a snap fastener member such as shown in Figs. 6 through 10 preferably formed of two pieces comprising a retaining part I1 and a yieldable socket-engaging part I8 assembled with the retaining part and having a portion combining with the retaining part to secure the fastener member to the panel. The retaining part I1 in my preferred form has a flanged base portion vI9 and a hollow cup-shaped portion 20 preferably formed from the material of the base portion I9 and extending beneath the same, as most clearly illustrated in Figs. '7, 9 and 10. The material of the retaining part I'I adjacent to the bottom has been punched outwardly as at 2I2I leaving apertures in the retaining part to receive portions of the socket-engaging Dart. 'I'he socket-engaging part I8 is in the form of a clip member made from one piece of wire which is soft enough to be set in a given position but which has a certain amount of resiliency for holding in the aperture in the frame.

The clip member has a pair of legs 22 connected at their leading ends, as shown at 23, to furnish a certain amount of spring action. The free end portions 24--24 of the legs 22-22 are in crossed relation, as most clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 10, for a purpose which will be described. Intermediate with the connected ends of the legs 22-22 and the respective free e'nd portions 24-24, the legs areebent to provide bowed portions 25-25 shaped and arranged to engage a cooperating socket with a snap action. The clip member I8 is easily assembled with the retaining part I 'I by inserting each of the free end por- .tions 24-24 through the respective apertures formed in the cup-shaped portion 20 so that the outermost ends of the portions 24-24 are substantially even with the outer surface of the wall of the cup-shaped portion 20, as most clearly illustrated in Figs. 3, '7 and l0. The free end portions 24-24 are normally set in this position preventing ready removal of the clip member from the retaining part before the snap fastener member is finally attached to the upholstery panel.

To assemble my improved snap fastener with the upholstery paneLit is only necessary to insert the cup-shaped portion 20 of the retaining part of the fastener through an uncovered aperture of the backing 4 so that the flange I9 engages the inside surface of the backing 4 adjacent to the aperture (Fig. 3). The wadding 1 is compressed slightly by the bottom of the cup-shaped portion as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 5 thereby taking up the body of the portion 20 so that no noticeable bulge is formed in the outer, or normally exposed, surface of the upholstery panel. For this reason I prefer to include the wadding I in my panel installation because without it it is probable that a slight bump of unevenness would be caused in the nishing material due to the fact, that, in a thin installation, it is necessary that the retaining part I1 extend slightly beneath the backing 4, asshown in Figs. 2. 3 and 5 of the drawings.

To attach permanently the snap fastener member to the upholstery panel pressure is exerted in an inwardly direction upon the bowed portion of each of the arms 22-22 thereby forcing the free end portions 24-24 away from each other beyond the peripheral walls of the cup-shaped portion 20 so as to engage the opposite surface of the backing 4 from the flange means I9. As a result of this action, the end portions 24-24 are set in engagement with the backing 4 and cooperate with the flange I9 to hold the fastener member in rigid assembly with the panel.V After my snap' fastener members are permanently assembled with the upholstery panel, satisfactory shoulder portions are provided by the arms 22-22 to enable the clip member to engage with a socket means 3 of a support, as shown in Fig. 2, even though the -bowed formation of the arms 22-22 has been straightened out toa slight degree as a result of the action by which the end portions 24-24 are set further away from each other.

Any satisfactory tool means may be employed for engaging the arms 22-22 to move the free end portions 24-24 apart so as to become set in engagement with the backing 4, but the tool which I have chosen to illustrate my invention is shown in a general way in Fig. 5, some of the parts of the tool having been removed to show the important parts. In general, the tool illustrated in Fig. 5 is made up with an outer casing 26 having a spring-actuated retaining means, which is not shown in the drawings, slidably mounted within the casing 26. Assembled within the retaining means are a pair of actuating arms 21, each having a camming surface 28 and a portion 29 at its outermost end adapted to engage the bowed portions 25-25 of the socket-engaging part I8 for forcing the arms 22-22 toward each other to move the end portions 24-24 away from each other. A supporting means 30 is positioned between the arms 2'I-2'I for receiving the connected end portion 23 of the clip member when the tool is initially applied to the fastener. In

attaching the fastener member to the panel the cup-shaped portion 20 of the retaining member is first extended through an aperture 5 of the backing substantially as described and the tool means is then inserted over the clip member so that the connected portion 23 is seated within the supporting means 30. The outermost ends of the arms 2'I--21 normally extend below the outermost end of the casing 25 and engage the panel. When downward pressure is exerted upon the casing 26, camming means 3 I3I engage the cam surfaces 28-28 of the arms causing the arms to squeeze the legs 22-22 of the clip member toward each other for the purpose which has been described.

After assembly of the parts of the panel the fasteners may be snapped into holes in the frame (Fig. 2) by pressing the panel into place. During this operation the pressure, which might other.

wise be against the wadding and covering. is taken up by the bottoms of the cup-shaped attaching members as shown in Fig. 2.

As a result of my invention, I have provided an improved snap fastener member which is simple and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and forms a very convenient method of securing the panel .to the door frame. Also by my invention I have provided a quick and eillcient method by claims.

which the snap fastener member may be attached to the panel. l

Although I have illustrated and described `a preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereby because the scopeA of my invention is best set forth in through an aperture of said retaining part and' laterally beyond the retaining part and engaged with said support whereby said stud part` issecured thereto, and said stud part having a socketengaging portion extending `beyond an outer surface of said support.y

the following "ange to hold 2'. A fastener installation comprising a supporting structure having an aperture therein, a retaining part extending into the aperture of said supporting part, said retaining part having an apertured wall and a ilange at one end of said wall engaging one surface oil said support, a stud part assembled with said retaining part, said stud part having a yieldable socket-engaging portion extending laterally beyond a face of said supporting structure, andvsaid studhaving free end portions extending through apertures in the wall of said retaining part and engaging the other surface of said support from that engaged by said said .retaining part and stud part 'FREDERICK N.A Ross.

in pla'ce. 

